This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Sheffield Wednesday are now ten games into Garry Monk’s tenure at the club, but Saturday’s game was far from the perfect result to mark the occasion as they were defeated 2-1 at Blackburn Rovers.
It was just the second loss since the 40-year-old took charge at the start of September, so maybe it is fair to suggest that it has been pretty good going – especially considering this squad he inherited was built entire by someone else in Steve Bruce and then Lee Bullen.
The Owls have only slipped out of the playoffs due to the division being so tight, just four points separate fifth from 15th, for example.
Monk has made his mark quickly on the defence as they have managed to record four clean sheets, but there are still concerns surrounding the reliance the team has on top goalscorer Steven Fletcher.
But now, a worrying new trend has emerged.
On the Chalkboard
Prior to Saturday’s game, Wednesday were on a roll of four games without defeat, with a key part of that being a shift in defence as Liam Palmer reverted back to his more natural right-back position with Morgan Fox being reintroduced on the other side.
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The 26-year-old’s return has been so emphatic that he managed to clinch the October Player of the Month award ahead of some solid contenders like Dominic Iorfa, who has started to make that centre-back position his own as of late.
However, against a Blackburn side that had endured a run of six straight games without a victory, the full-back duo were quite underwhelming, and it isn’t through any fault of their own.
Monk is quite right to start with a solid foundation defensively, but at times he is restricting his side’s full potential.
The 40-year-old was without Barry Bannan, who has provided the joint-most assists in the squad, so they clearly lacked some creativity.
If he were to allow his full-backs to bomb on, then they could have contributed more to the attacking side of the game. Instead, they sat too deep and invited the pressure, which eventually saw them crumble in the final five minutes.
As you can see from WhoScored’s average player position map from the game, neither Palmer nor Fox are in the opposition half with the latter barely ahead of the defensive midfielder, Sam Hutchinson.
This only goes to highlight a potential problem that may be creeping into Monk’s system, if this continues then the performances of the two will only drop off from here as they are merely defensive pawns.
